Once Upon a Prank
by WhyWhatShutup
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a miko and a taiyokai. They hated each other’s guts and made a point of going out of their way to piss one another off. Until one day pranks start happening and neither one of them is behind it... Sessh/Kago
1. Roaches CAN Fly

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful miko and her perfect, faithful taiyokai –

_Wait a second, wait a second, wait second. What? Perfect? Yea right! Do remember –_

Hush woman, I am telling the story.

_Not for long! Okay, once upon a time, there was a young miko and her pretentious taiyokai. They hated each other's guts and made a point of going out of their way to piss one another off._

Is this really the kind of story you wish to tell to our pups?

… _Maybe not. Anyways, they went out of their way to make each other angry. Every day, the miko would stalk her demonic foe through the halls of Hell – or high school, as it is otherwise known – and present him with new sweets to smell or taste…_

Kagome smirked at the pan in her hands. It was her super-secret "diabetic attack" brownies, made with unsweetened chocolate, cream cheese and entirely too much sugar. Guaranteed to make a dog demon drool over the scent. Yet, because of dogs' allergies to chocolate, it was the perfect torture.

Ah! There was her quarry now! He seemed to be completely unaware of her approach! Perfect.

Kagome pranced over to "Mr. Popular-I'm-So-Perfect" Sesshomaru Taisho, her short black and red skirt fluffing out over her black fishnet tights. She skirted around him and planted herself in his way, forcing him to stop or mow her down. His preppy friends stopped with him and one sighed as he saw that it was that had caused their halt.

"Sesshomaru! Just the demon I was looking for!" She peeled back the plastic wrap and shoved the brownies under his nose. "Smell these! Aren't they just _delectable_!"

The dog demon winced and the goth girl grinned. "Look, I even cut them up!" She began to dole out the sinfully sweet treats to all of Sesshomaru's friends. They accepted with a murmured, "Thanks, Kagome-chan" and wary looks toward Sesshomaru. "Here you go!" She told the taiyokai.

His nostrils flared as he took in the scent. He loved cream cheese. And that poison smelled delicious, almost worth the morning spent throwing up that it would cost him…

The miko pulled back her hand. "Oh yea! You're allergic!" She chomped down on the brownie. "Sorry!"

The icing on the proverbial brownie came a second later.

"Hey Kags! Damn, brownies with cream cheese! You know I love that shit!" Inuyasha grabbed one of the decadent treats and left with it, holding his skateboard under one arm as he bit into the baked good.

Kagome grinned. "Well, see you later Fluff-kun, I mean Sesshomaru!"

Kagome skipped off, occasionally handing out her brownies to a friend.

"I don't get how a cheerful girl like her can dress so… _dark_," Hiten sighed. "She's so hot too! Those creamy white legs, I just wanna –"

Hiten found himself against the wall. "Do not mention what you would or would not do with that insufferable woman," Sesshomaru growled.

Miroku chuckled and shook his head as he walked away from his bickering friends.

_--But they both knew they really loved each other!_

They did not, woman. The taiyokai simply waited longer to take his revenge. But he always got it…

Kagome sat down at her desk in her second class of the day, chatting with her friend Ayame. She paused when she saw the small blue gift bag in front of her.

"Huh, I wonder what this is," she mused softly. She put her hand in the bag and came out with something vaguely furry.

There was a tarantula on her hand. Kagome screamed.

Outside the door, a taiyokai smirked and sent in his minion to retrieve his pet while the woman was still in hysterics.

"Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" Kagome was crying at this point while several people tried to get close enough to her flailing figure to grab the tarantula.

A small green imp burst through, took the spider and whacked Kagome in the shins on his way out.

Sesshomaru nodded to the running imp. "Very good, Jaken. Take him home."

Sesshomaru didn't wait to see what Kagome would do next. He calmly walked to his next class.

Inside, Kagome was in the back corner of the classroom, still in tears. Her black eyeliner was running, but she would not cease rubbing at her arm and hand, where the tarantula had been only a moment previously. Sango and Ayame attempter to rub her back reassuringly while the teacher and other students looked on.

"Should she go to the clinic?" the teacher asked hesitantly. "I think she should lie down for a bit…"

Sango, Ayame and Inuyasha exchanged glance. "Yea," the hanyo spoke up, "I'll take her down there." He lifted the small girl up and over his shoulder, an arm across her thighs keeping her skirt down.

Sango shook her head as they left. Everyone knew who the culprit was, it was only too obvious. Too bad, both of the people involved were going to be at Inuyasha's party that weekend…

The next day, Kagome had deigned not to bring confectionary goodness into the school. She was still recovering from the shock of having her worst fear crawling up her arm. So instead of tormenting a certain handsome taiyokai, she proceeded to go to her locker. And promptly screamed when she opened it.

Inside was a fishbowl teeming with cockroaches and spiders. Some of the more determined cockroaches had already escaped and were scurrying about her locker, one even flying out at her when the door opened.

Kagome slammed the metal door shut, but could not stop the cockroach that landed on her chest. Still screaming as if the world were ending, she swiped at it, trying to get the creature away from her person.

Down the hall, at the same time, the taiyokai also opened his locker. Similarly to the miko down the hall, he was met with the unexpected. However, his locked was not filled with bugs, but chocolate. It coated his book covers in a sticky layer of poison. His nose twitched. There was something else, something not sweet, what –

His eyes began to water and he slammed his locker shut in an attempt to escape the stench of formaldehyde. Behind the stack of books, a dead squid floated in a small jar, filled to the brim with the noxious fluid.

As soon as he slammed the locker, something slammed into him. He looked down to see Kagome in tears, beating at his chest.

"Miko, remove yourself from this Sesshomaru's person immediately."

He was ignored. "Why would you do that? I mean, just yesterday, with the spider from Hell, but today… I've never even gone that far! Why would you do that to me?" the girl pleaded.

"Woman, I have done nothing to you. You, however, have destroyed this Sesshomaru's property. Remove yourself from my person so that we may discuss retribution."

"But you –!"

Kagome felt something crawling inside her shirt and sobbed, clawing at the thin fabric. "Get it off, please get it off!" she begged. "I'll do anything, just get it off, please!"

Sesshomaru immediately spotted the problem and removed it. A large cockroach had been crawling along the edge of her bra, just inside the neckline of her shirt. Kagome collapsed against him and sobbed as he crushed the offending creature beneath his shoe. He suddenly had the suspicion that there was something going on that neither of them was a part of.

"Miko, calm yourself." He shook her until she was looking at him. "Meet me on the roof during first period. There is something we must discuss." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the small miko hyperventilating in the middle of the hallway.

In a doorway not too far away, smug eyes watched before the owner high-fived the person next to him. "Part one: complete."

_The jerks were spying like little children and –_

Hush. We're telling the story about the miko and the taiyokai, not the conniving plotters.

_Yea, yea, whatever._

May I continue in peace?

_Hmph. Go ahead. Be my guest._

Very well, so…

Kagome sat on the roof, behind the small box-like thing that contained the stairs. She didn't want anyone to know she was there except her "arch-nemesis," Sesshomaru.

"Miko." "Speak of the devil," he heard her mutter.

Kagome patted the ground beside her, inviting the demon to sit. He looked at her dubiously and chose to sit cross-legged in front of her instead. "I'm guessing those little… monsters weren't from you? You don't seem smug," she told him, studying his features.

"And I trust it was not you who broke into my locker to destroy school property and fill it with that wretched scent."

Kagome's brow furrowed. "What happened to you?"

"You first, miko." He noticed the young woman's shudder.

"C-Cockroaches. And spiders. In a fishbowl. In my locker." Her eyes widened with remembered terror. "Did you know cockroaches could fly?" The demon noticed that the place he had removed the cockroach from was scrubbed red and smelled strongly of hand sanitizer. He found himself taking note of the fact that the woman was also terrified of cockroaches. Kagome shook her head and looked at the demon. "What about you?"

"Chocolate syrup was sprayed in my locker. There was also a dead squid in formaldehyde."

Kagome's lip curled. "A dead squid? That must have smelled lovely, especially with _your_ nose."

"Indeed. Am I safe to assume it was not you who did this?"

She nodded. "You are. I'm mean, but I wouldn't put a dead animal in someone's locker."

Sesshomaru found himself disagreeing with her judgment of herself. She was never mean, merely teasing. Though that teasing annoyed him to no end. "So someone has something against both of us and knows what we both dislike. This Sesshomaru proposes that we put forth a _temporary_ truce until the culprit is found. We shall… join forces to find him. When he is found, our truce shall end."

"Don't you think _she'd_ get suspicious if we're suddenly all friendly with one another?"

Sesshomaru paused. "That is a valid point. However, this Sesshomaru does not wish to have the need to discern between one person's prank and another's."

Kagome was silent for a moment. "What if we have a… a symbol, a way to know that _I_ am the one that pulled the prank on you or _you_ are the one that pulled the prank on me? Something subtle enough that no one else would notice it."

"That… may work. What do you suggest?"

"Maybe… a certain color, or word. I know that sometimes ghost writers do something similar. Like, they use a specific word within the first few pages, so other ghost writers know it was written by one of their fellows."

They both thought in silence. Kagome glanced up at the demon lord and her eyes widened. "What about a crescent moon? Not necessarily blue or anything, but hidden somewhere in the prank."

Sesshomaru was silent for another moment. "That will do. However, we still need o catch the culprits."

Kagome scowled at being reminded. "That's right. Only I'm allowed to pull pranks on you."

"How sweet," the demon lord said drily.

She smiled at him. "I'm just a bit possessive over my toys."

He glared, not appreciating being referred to as a "toy." "I propose we trap them. Put ourselves in a place where they cannot resist the urge to prank us, then proceed to catch them in the attempt."

"But how will we do that, we don't even…" Kagome's eyes widened. "It has to be someone that either knows us or has access to the dean's records of the locks!" Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow at her before his eyes widened fractionally as well. "Think about it, how did they get into our lockers? The school rents out the locks, right, so they have the combination. Somehow I doubt that the dean is pulling pranks on us, especially if you say school property was destroyed in your locker. So who else would have our combinations? I've given mine to all of my friends, and I know with demon hearing and memory, most of your friends know yours, even if you haven't told them."

"Smart little miko," Sesshomaru muttered. "This task has become much easier. We will trap them at the half-breed's party this weekend."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh, brotherly love," she sighed in an overly romantic tone. The demon ignored her. "So, how will we do it?"

"We shall go to the basement together and search for a decent bottle of wine."

Kagome paused to try to comprehend what he had just said. It still didn't make sense. "What?"

"The wine cellar. Basement. Whatever you wish to call it, it is dark and dank, precisely the sort of place you might expect to find something putrid or large bugs."

Kagome smiled. "My opportunistic friends wouldn't be able to resist."

The taiyokai smirked back. "Nor mine."

Kagome leapt at him, knocking him over in a hug. "It's brilliant! Positively brilliant!"

Sesshomaru's hands had automatically gone to her waist to support her. When the two realized what happened, Kagome scrambled off of him, blushing. "Of course it's brilliant. This Sesshomaru came up with it."

Kagome rolled her eyes and laid beside Sesshomaru as he sat up, his cocky words helping her get over her embarrassment. "You're incredibly presumptuous," she said simply.

"And you are entirely too open."

The bell signaling the end of first period rang a few minutes later. Sesshomaru pulled Kagome to her feet.

"Should we meet again to decide on our plan?" Kagome asked.

Sesshomaru nodded. "Do you have a class you can skip tomorrow?"

Kagome thought. "Third. None of my friends have it with me."

Sesshomaru nodded. "I will meet you here tomorrow during third period. I shall leave first. Wait a few minutes, then follow."

"I'll be late!"

Sesshomaru sent her a withering glare. "Then be late."

Kagome huffed as he left. "Jerk." She waited a minute and left.

Kagome met Sango at the bottom of the stairs. Sango gave her a puzzled look. "Did you… skip first period?"

Kagome laughed hesitantly and reminded herself that at least one of her friends was behind the incidents. "Uh, yea. There's actually a funny story about that, but we should probably get to class…" She hurried off.

Sango watched her suspiciously, following her to their class. "What is this funny story? Kagome? Kagome?"

The miko's nosy friend chased the girl down the hallway, annoying everyone around her and accomplishing nothing since –

_She wasn't that bad! Okay, the miko's friend followed her down the hallway, since they _had the same class_, questioning her about why she skipped class, like any _good_ friend would._

Right. Shall we continue this later?

_Why? It's still earl – ooooooh._

Do understand now?

_Ye-es._

Then come over here…

This just came to me. It'll be relatively short, at least the way it is in my mind right now…

Ciao dearies. Review, por favor. And IMPORTANT – send me more ideas for pranks. If I think they're good, I'll use them and give you credit of course. Evil, diabolical, sweet – any are welcome…


	2. Pretty in Pink

Okay, so this is chapter two. I'm sure you've seen the Author's Note I placed as a chapter earlier, so I won't bother to explain my long leave of absence.

Thanks to Kouga'sGirl4Eva for her ideas. I know I didn't use them in quite the way you said, but I think it works…

~~~End Author's note~

_~~~Mm, honey, not now, I'm trying to tell the story…_

I'm sure you would rather spend your time on other things.

_Really, not now! So, the miko and the taiyokai acted "normal" for the rest of the day and continued with their regular routine the next day…_

~~~Kagome fluffed her short purple and black lace dress and picked up the decadent chocolate strawberry mousse cake. The top of the cake had twelve strawberries ringing it, with one tipped over with a chunk missing so it resembled a crescent moon. She had "convinced" Miroku long ago to tell her what Sesshomaru had first period and was headed there now, in order to arrive before the dog demon.

Kagome stuck her head in and smiled at the teacher. Takara-sensei shook his head, but waved her in.

"Please try not to do too much damage, Kagome."

Kagome smiled. "Of course not. It's this desk, right?"

The miko set the cake on the desk beside Sesshomaru's and pulled a box of wax paper from her bag. She tore two long strips and covered the desk with them. Then, she placed the cake directly in the center and put a stack of plates in one corner and a cake-server in another. Once they were in place, Kagome took a bottle of chocolate syrup from her bag and artfully swirled it around the cake. At the bottom left corner she "drew" a little doggie and at the bottom right she smeared a bit of the syrup to make an "accidental" crescent moon.

Kagome gathered up her things and happily left the class. "Make sure you get a piece of that cake Takara-sensei! It's really good!"

~~~Yes, of course the miko would say that. She was unashamedly promoting herself –

_Hey! She was just trying to be nice you… meanie!_

Mmhm. Yes, because miko are so kind. Meanwhile, the taiyokai was doing something much better…

~~~Sesshomaru was in the parking lot on his cell phone. "Yes, yes, by two thirty… Just bill me, you know the address." He hung up and grabbed a small box with holes in it. A snake yokai waited beside him and he handed off the box. "Go. And make it fast. I only accept perfect results."

The yokai ran off and Sesshomaru made his way at a slower pace to his locker. He was relieved to smell that the dead squid was gone, but there was another odd smell that he didn't recognize. Sesshomaru decided that he could do without his books until later when he could manipulate someone into opening his locker for him. Instead, he walked down to Kagome's locker.

She had obviously just gotten there, as she was still twisting her lock. Sesshomaru was five feet away when she opened it and shrieked.

To his surprise though, instead of jumping away, she reached into the locker.

Sesshomaru was at her side a second afterward. Kagome was cradling a medium-sized black rat in her arms and cooing at it.

"Aren't you just the cutest little thing! Yes you are! You're so adorable…" She giggled as the rat's nose brushed her thumb.

"Miko, goths do not giggle."

Kagome glared at Sesshomaru. "How would you know? You hate goth girls."

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and walked away.

"I thought you said she's terrified of rats," someone hissed.

"No, I said she's terrified of _creepy-crawlies_, stupid. Rats are not creepy-crawlies."

Sesshomaru turned swiftly and searched the crowd that had gathered, looking for the perpetrators, but their voices had been too quiet to tell who they belonged to. He growled and left.

Sesshomaru glided into his first period just seconds before the bell. Everyone seemed to be grouped around his desk. They were all muttering something along the lines of "fantastic-looking" or "delicious." He sighed mentally.

"Get out of my way," the taiyokai snapped. Everyone moved quickly, giving him enough space to get through, but remaining close. He stared at the monstrosity that was his desk.

There was a huge chocolate cake on it. There were swirls of chocolate syrup on it. And in his seat, there was a large, white dog plush with little X's taped over its eyes and a note on its collar. He growled and felt his lower muscles twitch. It smelled amazing. But he would never eat it in the middle of a classroom like this. The results would be disastrous and humiliating.

He stalked the rest of the way to his desk and ripped the note off of the dog's neck.

_Fluff-kun!_

_Enjoy the chocolate._

_3 Love, Kags_

Sesshomaru noticed there was no crescent moon on the dog or the note. He tossed the dog aside and made as if to pick up the cake.

"Hey, uh, Sesshomaru?" He looked to see twenty-five other students and the teacher giving him hopeful stares. "Instead of, you know… throwing that out, do you think, you know… we could eat it?"

Sesshomaru looked from the cake to the class and stepped away, picking up the dog as he went. "Feel free."

Before the cake was cut, he noticed both it and the desk had crescent moons.

~~~_So the beautiful miko's beautiful cake that she spent hours on to perfect went to waste, since the taiyokai didn't even taste it and –_

Fine. The taiyokai actually stole a strawberry off of it. But none of the fools in his class noticed because they do not appreciate fine food.

_Idiots. Anyways, my turn! Hey you jerk! __Don't – haha – no! No tickling! __Pups! Remember, pups!_

Ah, yes. Continue.

_Thank you. So the miko sat down at her desk with her new pet…_

~~~Kagome had the rat, which she had named Checkers, in an animal carrying case that she borrowed from the Biology teacher down the hall from her locker. Hence, she barely got into her class on time.

Kagome set Checkers down on her desk and leaned over to get her notebook out of the bag she had just placed on the ground. She felt something sliding up her thigh, under her skirt.

"Miroku, that better not be you."

"What?"

Kagome looked up. Miroku was three feet away. Kagome looked down. "Eep!"

A red rat snake was looking up at her. Kagome froze for a moment then picked it up. It flicked its tongue toward her face. The underside of its chin had a black crescent moon on it, drawn in marker. "Aren't you pretty?" Kagome asked the snake. It flicked its tongue at her again.

Kagome looked at Checkers and sighed regretfully before placing the snake on her shoulders. "Shinsaku-sensei, may I go return this to someone?"

The teacher turned around and yelped, terrified. "Yes, yes, just get the damn thing out of here!" Her eyes were glued on the snake.

"Thanks sensei." Kagome left the class, one hand petting the corn snake (another name for the red rat snake). She slowly walked to Sesshomaru's first period. He was waiting outside of it with his eyes closed. A large dog stuffed animal sat beside him.

"Did you know I was coming?"

He opened his golden orbs and stared at Kagome. "No. I needed to get away from the scavenging beasts devouring your cake. You are unafraid of snakes?"

She grinned. "I think they're cute. I believe this belongs to you?" Kagome picked up the corn snake and held it out to him. He took it and placed it on his shoulders, lifting his long, silver ponytail to put the snake under it. Kagome helped. "Your hair is really soft, you know that?"

"Hn." Sesshomaru glanced back into the classroom. "It appears as though I will not be missed. Shall we discuss our situation now instead of during third period?"

"I better not. Sango is already suspicious." Kagome leaned in, looking at him closer. "Hey, is that chocolate on the side of your mouth…?" She tried to wipe at it, but Sesshomaru licked it away before she could.

"No." He handed her the dog. "You may have this."

Kagome smiled and held it against her chest. "Thanks." Kagome kissed him on the cheek and his nostrils flared. "I'll see you later."

Sesshomaru watched her leave, then leaned against the wall again, sighing.

~~~_Hate to see her go, love to watch her – Hey!_

Hush woman. Or I shall spank you again.

_Meanie._

Child. The day went on and the taiyokai continued as normal until before third class…

~~~Sesshomaru held in a yawn as he twisted his lock. Beside him, Hiten was joking with his younger brother, Manten, and Miroku. Sesshomaru was half-listening to the joke involving a bar and a couple of cat demons…

The locker door opened and a rush of liquid came down. Sesshomaru leapt back a moment too late. Hiten and Manten paused for a moment. Miroku broke the silence with his laughter and was followed shortly afterwards by the brothers.

Pink fluid dripped from Sesshomaru's bangs onto his formerly white-and-red-striped shirt.

"I – haha, oh jeez that's funny. I hope that's not permanent," Hiten managed to say.

"But it sure smells like it is," Manten choked out as he chuckled.

Most of the students in the hall had stopped and starting laughing. Sesshomaru took a calming breathe and glared with red eyes at the people paused in the hallway. "Leave, now."

Movement started again as people tried to scramble away from the dog demon's wrath. Inuyasha happened to pass by and stopped to take a picture before leaving, laughing to himself.

Kagome saw the dog demon and stopped, eyes wide. She waved Sango ahead and grabbed Sesshomaru's hand. "Come on, maybe if you wash it quickly, it won't be as bad." She tugged him to the nearest bathroom, clearing the men out of it before she locked the door behind them.

"Take your shirt off. I'll try to rinse it in this sink and you can rinse your hair in the other."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her, but pulled off the long-sleeved shirt, followed by the plain white shirt that he wore under it, which was also stained. He tossed them to the miko and smirked as she glanced at his chest, blushing.

"Like what you see, miko?"

Kagome averted her gaze. "No, um, I mean… Ugh! Fine, yes, you're a good-looking guy. Happy now?" she asked as she scrubbed at his shirt.

"Delighted." The taiyokai briefly wondered why she seemed to resent the fact that she found him attractive.

"I hope you have some extra clothes. I don't think this is going to come out and now they're soaked," Kagome said. She set the shirts on the counter. "Come over here and kneel in front of the sink."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her and watched as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to try to wash the color out of your hair. And if it won't come out, I'll at least try to make the color more even."

Sesshomaru did as she said, kneeling with his back toward the sink.

"Um… actually, can you face the sink? I'm gonna need to lean over you, so… I don't really want my boobs in your face."

Sesshomaru smirked but refrained from saying anything as he turned around.

Kagome leaned against his back and put his hair in the sink. She lifted the tap to turn it on and ran her fingers through his hair, using them to soak it. Some of the pink washed away. When his hair was fully soaked, Kagome pumped some of the soap from the dispenser into her palms, then began to scrub at Sesshomaru's hair.

Sesshomaru leaned his forehead against the counter and enjoyed her gentle fingers rubbing against his scalp. Every so often, her chest or arm or stomach would touch his head. To his surprise, he found himself looking forward to each accidental encounter with her body.

"I don't think I can get it out," Kagome told him softly. He turned his head and looked at her with one half-lidded golden eye. "I'm trying, but I think this is the best I can do. Your hair is going to be two-toned pink."

"Two-toned?"

"Yeah, bright where the dye first hit you and lighter where it soaked in later. It might look kind of cool, but I think you might want to dye it a different color."

"I have never dyed my hair before. I do not know how to," the dog demon admitted.

"I would say you could get Inuyasha to help, but he's as likely to turn it an even brighter pink as to help you. Is there any particular color you'd prefer? I can pick it up after school and then meet you at your house to help you."

"It does not matter. Black perhaps."

"You don't think that dyed black hair looks too emo kid?"

"Hn."

Kagome sighed. "I guess you wouldn't want colorful hair anyways. I'll try to find some good quality black dye and maybe that stuff that strips dye out of your hair… I've never used it before, but I've heard it's terrible for your hair."

"Hn." Sesshomaru started to stand, but Kagome put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Hold on a sec. I'm going to get some paper towels to try to dry your hair a bit."

Sesshomaru watched as she gathered a handful of the thin brown paper towels. When she got back to him, he leaned his forehead against the counter again and let her dry his hair. Some water ended up dripping down his back, but Kagome quickly soaked it up. She had to make several trips back to the paper towel dispenser before his hair was no longer dripping.

"Ok. I think that's as good as it's gonna get. Do you have any extra clothes at school?"

"No."

Kagome twisted her mouth and glanced at his shirts as he stood. She wrung them out and sighed as she gave them to him. "These are definitely too wet to wear. I have a jacket in my locker that will fit you, but I don't have any normal shirts. Sorry."

"Thank you," Sesshomaru said regally.

The bell had rung for third period a while ago, so the halls were empty as Sesshomaru walked through them shirtless, Kagome trailing behind. Once at her locker, he waited beside it patiently as she twisted her lock. When she opened it, she looked at him with narrow, suspicious eyes.

"You just memorized my locker combination, didn't you?"

~~~But the taiyokai would never do something as low as that –

– _and admit it. He totally did. He definitely memorized the poor miko's locker combination._

Hn.

_Exactly. Anyways…_

~~~Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at Kagome, but said nothing.

The miko rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She pulled the black Gackt hoodie out and gave it to Sesshomaru. "Sorry if it smells like me. I know yokai noses are sensitive, but I figured it was better than nothing."

The taiyokai put it on over his bare skin, but didn't bother to zip it yet. Not that the miko minded.

It was such a shame he didn't like gothic girls. She couldn't help stealing glances of his fit body as they walked toward the stairs for the roof. They had about fifteen minutes before the bell would ring.

They sat on the roof again.

"Whoever is doing this is getting more serious, I think. Hair dye is pretty major. Especially to someone like you," Kagome commented once they were both comfortable.

"Indeed. The question is what is the purpose of these so-called pranks? If we can discover the purpose, we may be able to discover the perpetrators."

"Sooo… are they trying to get us to hate each other? Or are they trying to get us in trouble with the school?"

"I do not think they are trying to get the attention of the administration. If the administration cared that much, we would have been reprimanded long ago. Also, it is apparent that these "pranks" are not the sort that we normally do. They have probably already realized that we know something unusual is going on."

"That's true… So… Why?"

Sesshomaru was quiet for a moment. "Unfortunately, I do not know."

"So what do we do?"

"If I could catch their scent on one of their little tricks, I could track them down. But they have been very careful not to leave their scent anywhere. If it is our friends as we suspect, it would be difficult to detect anyways." Sesshomaru's claws dug into the cement briefly, leaving little crescents that mirrored the black outline on his forehead. When he took his father's title, it would fill in and be dark blue.

Kagome touched his hand gently, trying to prevent him from hurting himself. He glanced at her and pulled his claws from the cement. He continued. "I believe our only choice is to wait until this weekend at the party. I have confidence that our theory is correct. They will not be able to resist if we give them a good enough opportunity."

"I suppose you're right." Kagome leaned her forehead against her knees and groaned. "I haven't had anything happen to me today, have I? I guess I'm next…"

Sesshomaru paused a moment, unsure of what to do. Finally, he patted her shoulder. "You are probably right. But… on the bright side, your hair is black," he suggested awkwardly.

Kagome lifted her head and looked at him before she started laughing. "Are you trying to… comfort me?"

Sesshomaru took his hand back. "Hn."

Kagome stopped laughing but continued smiling. "You know, you really aren't that bad. Besides the fact that you hate gothic girls."

~~~_Which is a completely biased and unfounded prejudice. What did gothic people ever do to him?_

I will not comment on that, **dear**.

_Oh shut up. You're such a d –_

I thought you were trying to be conscious of the pups?

_Fine. You're such a __**darling**__ butt-face._

You are so mature mate. Let us continue, shall we?

~~~Sesshomaru twitched irritably and started to say something, but the bell rang.

"I'll see you later, Sesshomaru. I'll text you if anything happens."

"How did you get my phone number?"

Kagome winked. "I have my sources." She disappeared into the stairwell.

Sesshomaru stood and rubbed a hand through his pink hair, frustrated. His palm came back pink and he growled before following Kagome back down into the school.

~~~End of chapter

Sorry this ended in the middle of their day. If I kept going I thought it would be too long, so you'll have to wait for the next chapter… Sorry. :)


	3. Boys and Toys

It wasn't until the end of the day, when Kagome was going out to her car, that she became a victim of the pranksters.

Her car was painted like Van Gogh's "Starry Night." Deep swirls of blue and yellow decorated her car. She actually thought it was quite pretty and the crescent moon gave it away as being one of Sesshomaru's more elaborate – and undoubtedly expensive – pranks. No, what bothered her was that the car had been wrapped in plastic wrap after it had been painted.

Kagome sensed Sesshomaru come up behind her. "Kind of tacky to drive a car painted like that, but I kind of like it. I hope they didn't ruin it with the plastic wrap. Is it permanent?"

"It should not be," he told her. "Would you like assistance removing the plastic wrap?"

She looked at him and sighed, taking pity on the pink-haired demon. "No, if you don't mind driving me, we can go to the drugstore to get dye and I will come back and deal with it later."

He'd almost forgotten that she promised to help with his hair. "I will assist you afterwards then."

Compared to Kagome's used box-shaped car, Sesshomaru's two-year-old Lexus was the peak of luxury. For his sixteenth birthday, he'd gotten it new. Kagome stroked the leather seats, to Sesshomaru's great amusement.

"Where's the snake?" she asked suddenly.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as they pulled out of the parking lot. "I returned him to his owner. Where's the rat?"

Kagome opened her bag to show him Checkers relaxing in the little carrier. "I think I have an old hamster cage at home that he can stay in until I get a big enough cage for him."

"I see."

The drove in silence for a little while until Kagome leaned forward and pointed. "Turn there."

He looked at her curiously, but followed her directions until they arrived outside a "beauty supply" store.

"We'll have a lot more options for hair dye here," Kagome explained, bouncing out of the car.

"Hn."

Sesshomaru followed her in, mystified as to the purpose of some of the items in the store. Kagome was already comparing two boxes of hair dye by the time he caught up to her.

They looked exactly the same to Sesshomaru, but Kagome placed one back on the shelf and held onto the other before examining her other options. "Are you sure we can't do another color?" Kagome asked, grinning as she held up a container of dark blue hair dye.

"Miko, if you try, it may be the last thing you ever do."

Kagome took that as the joke he meant it to be, despite his serious tone and put the dye back. "The problem is that when the black dye starts to fade, your hair will look ridiculous. You'd have to cut it," she told him, looking at his long hair mournfully. "If we try to strip the color, your hair might be ruined. So what would you like to do?"

Sesshomaru studied her before giving in. "Get the blue."

He ignored her excited squeal and went to the counter, pulling out his wallet to pay and Kagome gathered everything else she would need: latex gloves, hair ties and a hair brush.

-_How could you _not_ be excited about getting to play with that much hair?_

The little miko was insane. And desired to bend the strong taiyokai to her little gothic wiles.

_Couldn't have been that hard, could it?_

Hush, woman.

-Back at Sesshomaru's house, Kagome followed him to his room. She'd been to their house before but had never been on good enough terms with Inuyasha's older brother to step foot in his domain. She did not expect to be so surprised by it.

The room was large, which she expected. Inuyasha's was as well. But it was also less utilitarian than she was expecting. The desk was large and made of some kind of good hardwood. It was pushed up against a window so Sesshomaru might look outside while he did his work. Instead of carpet, Sesshomaru's room also had hardwood floors, with a black and red rug that was large enough to peek out several feet from under his king-sized bed. The bed was of matching hardwood to the desk. His sheets were red and his comforter was black – something Kagome noticed because while the rest of his room was neat, his bed was not made.

The walls had framed artwork hanging on them. Some were black-and-white architectural photos, but several were – dare she say it? – steampunk pieces, with different kinds of demons in Victorian-era clothing.

Kagome plopped down onto his bed and looked around. "Congratulations, Fluff-kun, you've surprised me."

Sesshomaru almost felt self-conscious while the girl surveyed his room. "Not what you were expecting?"

"Not at all. I love it," She told him, beaming. "After we fix your hair, you have to tell me where you got the artwork."

Kagome lay in his bed, reveling in how soft the sheets were.

"Do you make a habit of lying in the bed of your host?"

-_Which, by the way, is a rude thing to say to someone trying to help!_

It was meant harmlessly. Anyways…

-They both seemed to realize at the same time how that sounded. Kagome began to laugh.

"I apologize. That sounded much worse than I meant it to."

Kagome continued laughing and waved his apologies off. "Never mind it. Go wash your hair and let me know when you're done. No conditioner!" she called after him as he entered his private bathroom.

Kagome realized he's left without a change of clothing and rifled through his things until she found jeans and underwear. She blushed as she snatched a pair of boxers and knocked on the bathroom door.

"You forgot to get spare clothes," she said by way of explanation as he opened the door and handed him the jeans and underwear.

He looked at what she handed him and quirked a brow. "Forgetting something?"

"I might accidently get dye on the shirt, so you don't get one," she told him, sticking her tongue out.

Kagome took a book off his shelf and read it while she waited on him to finish washing his hair. It wasn't something she would normally choose, but it helped her pass the time until she heard the water shut off.

He raised an eyebrow again when he stepped out of his bathroom and saw her with one of his books. "If you continue going through my things, I will start charging rent on them."

Kagome laughed and ushered him back into the bathroom. "You're going to have to kneel for me or we'll have to find a chair."

Sesshomaru chose to kneel and Kagome began her task by brushing his hair carefully, so that the brush wouldn't get caught in any knots. When that was finished, she put most of his hair up in a bun on top of his head. Their eyes met in the mirror and Kagome laughed.

"You look ridiculous! I wish I had a camera."

Sesshomaru growled. "Get on with it, woman."

"Yeah, yeah."

Kagome put the latex gloves on and opened one of the three containers of dye she'd gotten. Taking some of the dye on her fingers, she rubbed his hair with it then brushed it through to ensure the lock of hair was completely colored. "I'm surprised you let me do this," she confessed.

"You are the only person I know with any experience dyeing hair." The most notable occasion being when Inuyasha had irritated her and ended up with the tips of his hair red. The hanyo had liked it so much that he'd had her redo it when the red had faded.

"I meant the color. Blue isn't exactly a color you normally see preppies dye their hair."

Sesshomaru rolled the word around in his mind. "Preppies?"

"You know, popular kids that don't like alternative kids."

"I have nothing against 'alternative kids' as you say."

"Really?" Kagome asked dryly. "Then it's something special about me and my friends."

"I don't dislike you and your friends. Inuyasha annoys me, yes, but I suspect that comes of living with him."

"And what about me? I know you don't like goth girls." She took another part of his hair down and started on that.

"Why do you think that?"

"You've said so before. You said you could never get along with me because I was just a dumb little goth girl."

"When did I say that?"

"When we first met."

Sesshomaru met her eyes in the mirror. "When we were in grade school?"

Kagome brushed his hair thoroughly. "Maybe."

He heard that for the "yes" it really was.

-The miko was extremely good at holding grudges, such as remembering things said as children.

_Mean things, like goth girls are ugly and gross and should just die._

Again, said by _children_.

-It only took Kagome two containers of dye for Sesshomaru's hair to be entirely coated. She brushed the dye through slowly, so the excess did not flick across the bathroom. Sesshomaru seemed relaxed, his eyes closed as he enjoyed her ministrations.

"Okay, now we let it sit for fifteen minutes before you can rinse," she told him cheerfully.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes but continued kneeling as Kagome took a seat on the edge of the tub. "Fifteen minutes?"

"Yep. Then you can rinse it out and put conditioner in."

"Hn."

"Sooo… This party Inuyasha is throwing… do you know why he's doing it?"

"I do not. It is not something we have discussed other than if he is caught, it will be his ass on the line, not my own."

"How long are your parents out of town?"

"Until Monday."

"That should be plenty of time to clean up then. Besides, it won't be that many of us, will it?"

"I do not know who will be in attendance."

"Are your friends coming too?"

"They were invited, yes. I suspect so Inuyasha will have an excuse to try to make me help clean up."

"Two days," Kagome mused. "Only two days until the party. I wonder what they'll do next?"

"Hn."

It was something he was curious about too.

It took nearly an hour for the water to run clear while Sesshomaur rinsed his hair. He had a feeling his skin might also be slightly blue. After he was finished, he towel dried his hair and left the bathroom so Kagome might scrutinize it.

She brushed it again and made sure the color was even. When she was satisfied, she braided it and used a hair tie to finish.

Sesshomaru said nothing but gave her a disapproving look.

The paint on her car after the cellophane was removed actually looked quite nice. Kagome circled her car twice before smiling and hugging the stoic demon. "I love it!"

The next day, Sesshomaru found a carrot cake in his locker, with a large crescent moon at the center of it in blue icing. He dipped a clawed finger in the icing and licked it clean. Cream cheese icing – his favorite.

Kagome popped up beside it. "Don't be angry with me – I didn't use your locker combination for evil. Anyways, do you like it?"

He nodded. "Who told you I like cream cheese?"

Kagome looked inordinately pleased with herself. "I guessed." And with that, she flounced off, somehow making black pants with chains on them look cheery.

"Oh man, is that carrot cake? That's my favorite!"

Sesshomaru slammed the door of his locker closed, narrowly missing Koga's finger. "It is mine," he growled lowly.

"Alright, it's yours," Koga said, holding his hands up in surrender with wide eyes.

-_The taiyokai was unnecessarily mean to the poor wolf, when the wolf demon just wanted a taste of the delicious cake made by the wonderful miko._

The wolf took a while to learn that he should keep his hands off of other people's possessions.

_The poor wolf deserves a cake for dealing with the mean taiyokai._

-They made it through the day without incident, which immediately made both Sesshomaru and Kagome suspicious. They met in the parking lot after school.

"Did you find out who it is and talk them into leaving us alone?" Kagome asked.

"No. I assumed you had."

"Why would I do that and not tell you?"

"I don't know, why would you taunt me with chocolate every other day when you know I can't eat it?"

"It's not like it would kill you!"

"Why should something have to kill me in order for you to not do it?"

What had started as a relatively civil discussion turned into a full blown argument. One of the conspirators sighed.

"Well it _was_ working."

"Don't know what we were thinking. We'll have to go all the way through this weekend."

"Looks like," one said as Kagome huffed and stomped to her Van Gogh car.

"Advance with the plan then."

Friday arrived with a bang. Both Kagome and Sesshomaru's assigned parking spots had graffiti in them. Neither was done by anyone with a particularly skilled hand. All of the large trash cans that were normally spread throughout the school were arranged in the end of their parking spaces as well.

Kagome parked in the grass and skipped going to her locker. She didn't want to open it and find anything gross in it. She still fumed at Sesshomaru, though she knew the argument was silly. She assumed he was doing the same thing.

-She was, of course, incorrect, as the taiyokai would never be that immature.

_Ha! It's only because he _didn't _skip going to his locker that he wasn't fuming…_

-His books were gone. Instead, when he'd opened his locker, a plethora of stuffed unicorns had fallen out instead, to the great amusement of anyone nearby. Sesshomaru glared at the toys and tried to decapitate one by slamming the locker on its neck. The locker just bounced back and he narrowly avoided being hit by it. Sesshomaru shoved all of the stuffed animals to the floor and closed his locker door, slamming the lock back on it.

His teachers would not be happy that he didn't have his books that day.


End file.
